Hamas again denies abandoning violence

Qatar's prime minister, Hamad bin Jassem al Thani, said that Hamas has ended "armed resistance."

And, once again, Hamas denies it:

The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, would never give up armed resistance against the Zionist regime of Israel, a Hamas official said, rejecting reports that the group has accepted to end its armed struggle against the Israeli regime.

"Hamas has not abandoned any method of resistance since the very first day of its establishment 24 years ago and it will continue the same path in future," Ismaeil al-Ashqar, who also represents Hamas in Palestine's parliament, told FNA on Sunday.

He made the remarks in response to the claims made by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani that Hamas has ended armed resistance.

"Hamas will never give up armed resistance," al-Ashqar underlined.

Al Ashqar told FARS that "Hamas deals with resistance as an overarching concept that impacts all aspects of intellectual life: cultural, artistic, political, military, and security. We apply our understanding by following the appropriate methods [of resistance] depending on the circumstances and conditions....Armed resistance is one of the ways in which we pursue our goals, and how to use this method or tactic is subject to circumstances at the time."

As Hamas tries to play both sides of the fence, we will be seeing lots more of this type of thing.